Fruit container pickup vehicle

ABSTRACT

A vehicle having lifting means at its front end to raise a container filled with fruit from the ground to a position for engagement and support by a carriage movable rearwardly over the vehicle. A hopper is normally supported on the vehicle below the carriage which is adapted to dump the filled containers into the hopper, there being means to raise the hopper to an unloading position. The carriage is adapted to stack emptied containers at the rear of the vehicle and to pick up and transfer the stack to another vehicle.

United States Patent Rempel [4 1 May 30, 1972 [54] FRUIT CONTAINERPICKUP VEHICLE [72] Inventor: Dietrich G. Rempel, Akron, Ohio [73]Assignee: Rempel Enterprises, Inc., Akron, Ohio [22] Filed: Aug. 28,1970 21 Appl. No.: 67,900

[52] U.S. Cl ..214/302, 298/7, 214/6 B, 214/75 R, 214/146.5, 214/313 [51 Int. Cl ..B65g 67/02 [58] Field ofSeai-ch ..214/300, 301, 302,303,314, 214/75 11, 769, 147 G, 518, 92, 313, 306, 148, 146.5; 298/7, 11

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,207,344 9/1965 Clar..214/302 3,450,436 6/1969 Phillips ..298/1 1 3,322,464 5/1967 Merrittet a1. ..298/7 3,291,329 12/1966 Ord ....214/313 1,256,401 2/1968 Ward..214/769 3,363,929 l/1968 Nelson ..214/651 2,169,463 8/1939 Eisenberg,Jr. ..298/7 2,797,833 7/1957 Cash, Jr.. "298/11 3,140,788 7/1964 Clar.214/302 1,474,857 11/1923 Stebler et a1 ..214/313 PrimaryExaminer-Gerald M. Forlenza Assistant Examiner-Lawrence J. OreskyAttorney-Hamilton, Renner & Kenner [57 ABSTRACT A vehicle having liftingmeans at its front end to raise a container filled with fruit from theground to a position for engagement and support by a carriage movablerearwardly over the vehicle. A hopper is normally supported on thevehicle below the carriage which is adapted to dump the filledcontainers into the hopper, were being means to raise the hopper to anunloading position. The carriage is adapted to stack emptied containersat the rear of the vehicle and to pick up and transfer the stack toanother vehicle.

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D/ TR/CH 6. REMPEL PATENTEDMAY 30 1972 SHEET I N VIiN I ()H D/ETR/CH 6.REMPEL ATTORNEYS PATENTEU MAY 30 m2 sum 13 or 17 l I I I J l INVENTOR.

D/ETR/CH 6. REMPEL BY w W 7 WV ATTORNEYS PATENTEDHAY 3 0 I972 SHEET 150F 17 PATENTEDMAY 30 me SHEET 18 [1F 17 REMPEL BY "Z? I A4 NV ATTORNEYSPATENTEDHAY 30 I972 SHEET 17 0F 17 INVENTUR D/ TR/CH G. ZQWEL BY FRUITCONTAINER PICKUP VEHICLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present pickupvehicle is designed to pick up containers filled with fruit andpreviously deposited on the ground, collect the fruit in a hopper on thevehicle, and return the empty containers singly or preferably in a stackto a desired location. Thus, the vehicle can be used to pick upcontainers of fruit in an orchard regardless of the method of picking.However, the vehicle is particularly adapted to be used in cooperationwith a picking apparatus which deposits filled containers in a linebetween the rows of trees. Such an apparatus is disclosed, for example,in my copending application Ser. No. l4,59l, filed Feb. 26, 1970, andentitled Fruit Picking Apparatus and Method.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to provide anovel apparatus for successively picking up filled containers of fruitor other produce, dumping the containers into a hopper carried on saidapparatus, and storing the emptied containers.

Another and more specific object is to provide improved carriage andtrack means cooperating with front lifting means to carry the containersfrom the lifting means and dump them into a hopper on the vehicle.

A further object is to provide improved support means on the carriageadapted to engage under the containers for supporting, dumping andstacking them when emptied, and for transferring the stack to anothervehicle.

A still further object is to provide improved elevating means supportingthe hopper for raising it to position for unloading its contents intoanother vehicle.

These and other objects are attained by the novel and improved parts,assemblies and arrangements comprising the present invention, apreferred embodiment of which is shown herein by way of example, thescope of the invention being defined in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

FIG. I is a side elevation, partly broken away, of the improved vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a partial side elevation, showing the improved vehicle beingused to deliver a stack of empty containers to a picking apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side elevation showing how the empty containersare stacked at the rear of the vehicle.

FIG. 4 is a front end elevation showing the hopper in raised positionfor unloading produce into a collecting vehicle.

FIG. 5 is a plan view, partly broken away, of the improved vehicle.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial side elevation on line 6-6 of FIG. 5,showing the lifting mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view on line 7-7 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a front elevation on line 8-8 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a partial section on line 9-9 of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a partial section on line 10-10 of FIG. 8.

FIG. 11 is a plan section on line 11-11 ofFIG. 8

FIG. 12 is a partial section on line 12-12 ofFIG. 8.

FIG. 13 is a plan section on line 13-13 ofFIG. 8.

FIG. 14 is a plan view, partly broken away, on line 14-14 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 15 is a partial section on line 15-15 ofFIG. 14.

F IG. 16 is a cross section on line 16-16 of FIG. 14.

FIG. 17 is a sectional view on line 17-17 of FIG. 14.

FIG. 18 is an enlarged partial section on line 18-18 of FIG. 17.

FIG. 19 is a sectional view on line 19-19 of FIG. 14.

FIG. 20 is an enlarged partial plan view on line 20-20 of FIG. 19.

FIG. 21 is an enlarged elevational view, partly in section, on line21-21 of FIG. 20.

FIG. 22 is a partial sectional view on line 22-22 of FIG. 21.

FIG. 23 is a similar view showing the gears moved to position the armsin bucket holding position.

FIG. 24 is an enlarged sectional view on line 24-24 of FIG. 20, takenbetween the gear shafts.

FIG. 25 is a partial section on line 25-25 of FIG. 24.

FIG. 26 is a plan elevation on line 26-26 of FIG. 3, showing themechanism for raising and lowering the hopper.

FIG. 27 is a side elevation on line 27-27 of FIG. 26, showing the hopperraising mechanism in one position.

FIG. 28 is a similar view showing the hopper raising mechanism inanother position.

FIG. 29 is a vertical sectional view of the hopper on line 29-29 of FIG.27.

FIG. 30 is a partial sectional view through one of the sliding supportsfor the hopper on line 30-30 of FIG. 27.

FIG. 31 shows the vehicle hopper chute in a discharge position.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIG. 1, the operation of theimproved vehicle is shown somewhat schematically in picking up a filledcontainer or bucket from the ground, carrying it rearwardly over anddumping it into the hopper, and then stacking the empty container at therear end of the vehicle. In FIG. 2 a stack of empty containers is shownmoved to the forward end of the vehicle, for being lowered into stackedposition at the rear of a picking apparatus shown in phantom, such asdisclosed in my copending application Ser. No. 14,591, filed Feb. 26,I970.

The improved vehicle has a chassis or frame indicated generally at 10including stub axles supported on front and rear wheels 11 and 12, afront lifting mechanism 13, an overhead carriage 14 for carrying buckets15, a central hopper l6, and a rear support ring 17 carried on thehopper by bars 18 for stacking empty containers.

Referring to FIGS. 5-13, the front lifting mechanism preferablycomprises laterally spaced upright frame channels 19 supported on atransverse base frame member 20 on the vehicle chassis. The uprightchannels are connected at their upper ends by transverse bar 21. A pairof inner channels 22 are slidably telescoped within channels 19 and theinner channels are connected together by a transverse bar 23.

The base frame member 20 has a forwardly extending horizontal plate 24welded thereto which is supported below by gussets 25 welded to member20. The plate 24 supports the base 26 of a vertical hydraulic cylinder27 extending upwardly midway of the channels 19. A piston head 28 restson the upper end of cylinder 27 when the piston is lowered and isslidable upwardly on guide rod 29. Sprockets 30 are journaled inopposite sides of piston head 28 and mesh with chains 31.

The bottom ends of chains 31 are fastened to brackets 32 on transverseplate 33 of a rectangular lifting frame assembly 34 (FIGS. 9 and 10),and bracket plates 35 extend rearwardly of said assembly 34 forjournaling rollers 36 which roll on the inner upright channels 22 as thelifting frame is raised and lowered.

The other ends of chains 31 are secured to brackets 41 on cross bar 47extending between and connected to the outer channels 19. Within thelifting frame are vertical support plates 37 pivoted on cross shaft 38,and brackets 39 at the bottoms of plates 37 are attached to thesemicircular lifting fork 40 (FIG. 7), which is adapted to engage underthe peripheral channel flange on a circular fruit bucket 15 shown inphantom lines in FIGS. 5,6 and 7.

A pair of divergent guide arms 42 extend forwardly from an outer frame43 surrounding frame assembly 34, and these guide arms serve to straddlethe sides of a fruit bucket supported on uneven terrain and have outerupright posts 42 which engage the channel 15' of the bucket to guide thelifting fork 40 into place under the channel without danger of the forkends scratching or marring the plastic side wall of the bucket. Theposts 42 engage and slide along the rim flanges 15 of the bucket untilthe vertical ribs 34' on frame 34 abut the flanges, at which time thefork is properly positioned to engage under the bottom flange when thefork is raised.

The outer frame 43 includes vertical plates 44 welded at their upperends to a horizontal plate 45 which extends over the wheel axles 46 andis welded to the chassis 10. The outer frame 43 is hung on the chassisby vertical bars 48 engaging over the plate 45 and attached to baseframe member at their lower ends. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the member20 may have at its upper end a rearwardly and downwardly curved portionsupported on a transverse bar 49 extending between and secured to thevertical bars 48.

In the operation of the front lifting mechanism, when fluid pressure isintroduced into the lower end of cylinder 27, the piston head 28carrying sprockets is raised out of the cylinder and the sprockets pullthe chains, and with them the lifting frame 34, upwardly, the rollers 36rolling in the inner channels 22. When the head 28 is raised intoabutment with horizontal flange 50 on transverse bar 23 connecting innerchannels 22 (FIGS. 8 and 13) the channels are extended upwardly fromwithin channels 19, as indicated in phantom lines in FIG. 8, so that therollers 36 can raise the lifting frame and a bucket 15 to the positionshown in phantom lines in FIG. 6, where the overhead carriage 14 on thevehicle engages the bucket and carries it rearwardly over the hopper 16therein.

Aside from the lifting fork 40 adapted for engaging under the peripheralchannels on the buckets, and the guide arms 42 for said fork, thelifting mechanism just described is substantially conventional and perse forms no part of the present invention.

The carriage 14 is movably supported on spaced-apart channel rails 52(FIGS. 16 and 17) connected at their front ends on a transverse anglebeam 53 resting on a tubular shaft 54 mounted on gusset brackets 55 onthe rear sides of the outer upright channels of the front liftingassembly (FIG. 6). The rear ends of the rails 52 are supported on thesides of the hopper l6, and the hopper is supported on an extensibleframework for raising it to unloading position shown in FIG. 4,hereinafter described in detail.

The carriage 14 is rollably supported on rails 52 by pairs oflongitudinally spaced rollers 60, and the rollers are journaled inangles having one leg 62 overlying the rails and the other leg 63extending downwardly adjacent the open side of the rails and journalingthe rollers. Vertical support plates 64 are welded to and extendupwardly from angle legs 62, and a bridge member 65 extends between andconnects the plates 64. As shown in FIGS. 16 and 18, wood strips 66 and67 are supported above and below the rails for slidably supporting theupper and lower runs 68 and 69 of drive chains. The upper runs of thechains are secured at 61 to the angle legs 62 for moving the carriage.Preferably, horizontal aligning rollers 70 are journaled on the anglelegs 63 for abutting the webs of channel rails 52. Sheet metal housingshields 71 and 72 may be provided for the chains and roller assemblies.

Referring to FIGS. 14 and 17, the chains 68,69 are trained around drivesprockets 73 at the rear of rails 52 and around idler sprockets 74 atthe front ends thereof. The sprockets 73 are mounted on a transverseshaft 75 having a drive sprocket 76 thereon driven by a pinion 77 on theshaft 78 of drive motor 79.

Referring to FIGS. 15-17, anti-friction bearing assemblies 80 and 81 aresupported atop the vertical plates 64, and an inner drive shaft 82 isjournaled in said bearings. One end of shaft 82 has a drive sprocket 83keyed thereon, and a pinion sprocket 84 operatively connected thereto bychain 85 is fixed on shaft 86 of drive motor 87. The shaft 82 has keyedthereon drive sprockets 88 driving chains 89 slidably housed in bucketlifting arms 90 extending forwardly of shaft 82 and meshing with frontsprockets 91 in the front ends of the arms. The purpose of the chains 89will hereinafter be described.

The bucket lifting arms 90 are secured at their inner ends to an outershaft assembly journaled on the bearings 80 and 81 and rotatablerelative thereto. This assembly comprises outer shaft 92 concentric withshaft 82 and secured to the arms 90. Preferably with diagonal brace bars90' extending between the shaft and medial portions of the arms. The armadjacent to drive sprocket 83 is secured by flanged member 93 to onerace of bearing assembly 80, and the other arm 90 is secured to one raceof bearing assembly 81 by a laterally extending sleeve member 94 onwhich a drive gear 95 is secured. A drive pinion 96 meshing with gear 95is driven by motor 97 through gear reducer 98.

Referring to FIGS. 19-25, the outer ends of lifting arms 90 have pairsof clamping arms 100 keyed at their inner adjacent ends on pivot shafts101 disposed at right angles to the shafts 102 on which the frontsprockets 91 are keyed. The shafts 101 are journaled in blocks 103welded to the inner ends of shafts 102, for combined movement of arms100 from aligned position shown in full lines in FIG. 20 to an angularposition shown in phantom lines where they clamp the peripheral channelof a bucket 15. This movement is controlled by meshing segmental gears104 fixed on the lower ends of pivot shafts 101, as best shown in FIGS.22 and 23. A stop bars 105 secured to the inner face of each block 103limits the opening movement of the clamping arms. The lower ends of thestop bars are preferably inclined to guide the clamping arm assembliesover the bucket rim flanges as the arms are lowered into place forclamping the rim flange to support the bucket.

Channel-shaped shoes 106 are provided on the outer ends of clamping arms100 for fitting between the flanges of the peripheral channels 15' onthe buckets 15 and frictionally abutting the webs of the channels whilestraddling bolt heads thereon at diametrically opposite points tosupport a bucket on the carriage.

As shown in FIG. 21, the power for operating each pair of arms 100 issupplied by double acting fluid cylinders 107 each pivoted at one end at108 on one of the arms 100 and pivoted at its other end on a bracket arm109 projecting outwardly from the block 103 in which the arms arejournaled. Rotating one arm 100 will rotate the other arm 100 in theopposite direction due to the meshing gears 104 on the pivot shafts 101of the arms. As shown in FIG. 24, sprockets 91 are keyed at 112 toshafts 102, and the arms 90 are rotatable on bearings 1 13 on theshafts.

Referring to FIG. 6, when a bucket 15 filled with fruit or produce israised to the upper position shown by means of the fork 40 (FIG. 7)engaging under the lower flange of peripheral channel 15 on the bucket,the carriage 14 is moved to a for ward position on rails 52 with thearms 90 extended forwardly, and the clamping arms are then operated toclamp between the channel flanges on opposite sides of the bucket. Thefront lifting mechanism is then lowered to pick up and raise anotherbucket, and the carriage moved rearwardly over the hopper to the phantomposition shown in FIG. 3.

In this position the bucket is dumped as indicated in phantom in FIG. 1,and then returned to the upright position of FIG. 3 over the hopper, andthe arms 90 are then swung upwardly over the carriage 14 to move thebucket while in upright position rearwardly and nest it into the top ofa storage stack at the rear of the vehicle. Referring to FIG. 2, thestorage stack, or any part thereof, may be picked up and carried forwardby the carriage at any desired time, to supply empty buckets to astorage stack on the rear of a picking vehicle, as indicated in phantomlines.

In the operation of the carriage while handling the buckets in theforegoing manner, the motor 79 rotates shaft 75 to drive the chains68,69 and move the carriage back and forth on the rails, as desired. Thearms 90 are rotated by operation of motor 97 (FIGS. 14-16) driving theouter shaft 92 on which the arms are secured. Normally the motor 87 isnot operated and the inner shaft 82 is thereby held stationary. Thus, asthe arms 90 are rotated, the sprockets 88 and 91 therein do not rotateand the chains 89 compensate for the change in angularity of the arms bywrapping around one side of the sprockets and unwrapping from the otherside.

Since the sprockets 91 are keyed to the shafts 102 the outer ends ofarms 90 are rotatable thereon, the shafts 102 maintain the clamping arms100 and the bucket held therein in a horizontal position as the arms 90are rotated to various posi-

1. A pick-up vehicle for lifting and dumping filled produce containersand temporarily storing the unloaded empty containers, comprising ahopper carried on the vehicle, means on said vehicle in front of saidhopper for engaging and lifting filled containers successively from theground, a track on the hopper, carriage means on said track for movingeach container over said hopper, vertically rotatable lifting arms onsaid carriage means for receiving a container from the lifting means,carrying the container to dumping position, dumping said container intosaid hopper and stacking the emptied containers, and means for unloadingsaid hopper.
 2. A vehicle as defined in claim 1, in which the carriagemeans has means for maintaining the container in upright position as thearms are rotated.
 3. A vehicle as defined in claim 2, in which thecarriage means has independent means for tilting the container whilesupported in the lifting arms.
 4. A vehicle as defined in claim 1, inwhich the carriage means has means for tilting the container whilesupported in the lifting arms.
 5. A vehicle as defined in claim 1, inwhich the lifting arms have horizontally rotatable clamping arms attheir outer ends, means to rotate the lifting arms, and separate meansto rotate the clamping arms to grip a container between the liftingarms.
 6. A vehicle as defined in claim 5, in which the carriage meanshas means for maintaining the container in upright position as thepick-up arms are rotated.
 7. A vehicle as defined in claim 5, in whichthe carriage means has means for tilting the container while supportedin the lifting arms.
 8. A vehicle as defined in claim 6, in which thecarriage means has independent means for tilting the container whilesupported in the clamping arms.